Pressure and Pain
by electricowl
Summary: Follow Toph as she teaches her students metalbending, and cleans up the streets in her spare time. Will her tough, vigilante justice go too far? And what will she do when she's asked to move to the newly-formed Republic City? This story begins six years after the battle with Ozai, or three years after The Rift. Will be a multi-chapter story including most of the Gaang.
1. Chapter 1

**Author note** : Hi, everyone. This is going to be my first multi-chapter fic, I'm pretty excited to share it with you! My goal is to keep as close to the canon as I can and to make it past the birth of Suyin- so we've got a little ways to go. You don't need to have read The Promise and The Rift, but it helps. This is taking place six years after the battle with Ozai, which makes Toph 18, Sokka 22, etc.

This is a bit of an intro chapter, so it's shorter than the others! I hope you enjoy it, please leave a review if you have the time. Thanks!

* * *

"Please," she begged softly, "my friend and I are lost and just trying to find the way to our inn."

"Yeah, we don't want any trouble!"

The tall, lean man who stood out in front of his cronies, obviously the leader of the little gang, laughed shrilly. The six others chuckled along with him.

"Ladies, ladies, you have the wrong idea about us," the leader crooned smoothly. "We don't want any trouble either. We just happened upon two young ladies who require some assistance…" he smirked, adjusting the hat that covered his left eye. "And we love to help damsels in distress, right, fellas?"

The pack of men agreed boisterously, nodding and pumping fists in the air. Some cried out, "yeah!" and "you got it, boss!"

"Please, sir…if it's money you want, we'll give it to you. Just don't hurt us."

Some of the men in the group rolled their eyes while others continued chuckling.

"…and I'm blind," she admitted quietly.

This peaked the leader's interest, who waved his arm at his men to quiet them.

"And how about you?" he asked the younger girl, taking another step forward.

"I'm her friend…I help her get around since she can't see," she explained.

"Well, considering you're both lost and alone in a dark alley in the middle of Gaoling, I would venture to say that you aren't doing a very good job," he said, quirking an eyebrow. There was more laughter.

"Here, take it, we just want to be on our way!" the blind girl cried out, tossing her coin purse in the direction of the men. It landed with a rattle; it was heavy with coins. A few glimmered through the opening of the bag.

The group eyed their leader to see what he would decide to do.

"Oh, girls…" the boss shook his head and sighed softly, as if exasperated with their naivety. "You both know it's not going to be that easy." He glanced over his shoulder and raised his chin, urging his lackeys forward. "We want to have a little fun, too."

The blind girl, who was clinging to her friend's arm, suddenly stood straight. She spread her feet out into a stable stance and brought her arms forward, the palms of her hands facing her.

"Reaaaaaally?" she smirked. "You boys wanna have some fun?"

Her friend stepped forward and mimicked her stance, expression solemn.

The blind girl's smirk turned into a grin. She took their silence for agreement.

"Good, because I _love_ to have fun."

Before the men could raise their weapons, metallic _chink_ sounds filled the air, and little pieces of metal were flying at them. The coins left the purse with lightning speed, smacking the men in their faces, their knees, their eyes, their crotches. One man after the other, the gang fell to the ground, not even realizing what had happened to them.

"Wh-what?!" the boss shrieked.

He stood alone, his cronies in a heap behind him, and his jaw dropped in shock as he stared at the two young women. They were just girls! How had they taken his men out?!

"Metalbenders?!"

"You got that right, you lousy punk!"

The boss fell to his knees, raised his clasped hands above his head, and cried, "Please, don't hurt me!"

"Wow, doesn't that sound familiar, Penga?"

"It sure does, Sifu Toph."

Toph stepped forward and leaned down, putting her hands on her knees. Her face was inches away from the cowering leader's.

"Oh man," she sighed, the air lifting her bangs away from her face briefly. "You know it's not going to be that easy…"

With a flick of her wrist, a thin, metal chain slipped out of her sleeve and whipped forward, knocking his hat off his head.

"You wanna know why?" she teasingly asked, her breath tickling his face.

Tears were forming in his eyes. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt this afraid before in his entire life.

"Wh-why?" he managed to sputter out, trying to maintain control of his bladder.

The blind girl rose once more, and the two girls gently flung their metal chains out of their sleeves. The moonlight glinted off of their weapons menacingly.

"Because we want to have a little fun, too."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! So, this chapter is obviously longer than the first one. This is about the length I'm going to be aiming for when it comes to future updates. Thanks for reading!

"Do you think he learned his lesson?" Toph asked, yawning. They had probably spent about a good two hours in the alley.

"I sure hope so," Penga replied. "But let's take his money just in case…I need new shoes anyway," she giggled.

Toph sighed and bent two pillars of earth up under the leader's armpits, which lifted him into a standing position.

"Now, Ling, did you learn your lesson?" she asked him.

His chin was resting on his chest, and he was breathing heavily.

"Yes…" he wheezed.

"And what lesson was that?" Toph prodded, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Don't…take advantage…of people…" his shaky voice said.

" _And?_ "

"Do not…mess with…a lady."

Toph smirked again, released Ling from his earthen binds, and turned towards Penga.

"Well, I think that about does it. He learned his lesson, and justice is served yet again."

Penga smiled. "Sifu Toph, have I ever told you you're a genius?"

"You could stand to tell me more often," Toph responded, walking away from the beat up man and his group of incapacitated friends. There was a puddle of blood underneath each of them, though the largest was under Ling.

"Now let's get home. Being the greatest earthbender in the world can really wear a girl out."

Xx

Sokka hummed to himself absentmindedly as he walked and reviewed his checklist. He had put in a lot of planning for this, and he wanted to make sure he got everything right. He couldn't forget anything.

He invited all of their friends that he could think of…friends they met from their travels years ago during the war, family, and even students from her metalbending academy. Aang and Katara had taken time away from helping to rebuild the South Pole to come to Gaoling for this, and many others were travelling from far distances to come to this party. Fire Lord Zuko was even taking time out of ruling his nation to attend.

This party was going to be the reunion of a lifetime. For many of them, it would be the first time in years since they've seen each other, some since the war itself. Sokka sighed…he wasn't sure how it happened, really. After the war, each of their friends started working independently, doing things that they felt they personally needed to accomplish. Since she had seen the splendor of the North Pole, Katara had been itching to return home to help them rebuild their once great village. She finally was able to take the time to return about a year ago, and she was happy to spend time with Gran Gran and their dad, from what Sokka heard. Aang was still committed to his Avatar-ly duties, travelling around the world on Appa to help different cities and villages with spiritual and even political problems, though he spent most of his time in Republic City with Sokka. He tried to visit the South Pole at least monthly, however, to see his _sweetie_. Sokka shuddered at the thought of Aang and his sister all lovey dovey and tried to stop thinking about it. Suki was leading her Kyoshi Warriors both at home and in the fire nation; Fire Lord Zuko had hired the warriors as his personal bodyguards after an assassination attempt. Not wanting to leave Kyoshi Island or Zuko unprotected, Suki had decided to train a few more elite women and then split the group between the Island and the Fire Nation. And of course, Toph was training her metalbenders at the Beifong Metalbending Academy. Sometimes it still seemed bizarre to him that he was friends with the Avatar, the Fire Lord, the leader of _the_ Kyoshi Warriors, and the creator and only instructor of the coolest invention _ever_ , metalbending. Life was funny sometimes.

Sokka's reverie was interrupted when he bumped into a merchant's cart of cabbages. He gave a quick "sorry!" and scurried away before he could face the owner's wrath.

Normally Toph would be at her academy near Yu Dao, which was now a part of the newly created United Republic of Nations, but Sokka was aware that she was in Gaoling to visit her mother. After her parents separated, she reconciled with both her father and her mother individually, and would occasionally visit them both. While he knew that this party was going to be an amazing reunion of their group's closest friends, Sokka was more excited about celebrating Toph's birthday itself. She was always so busy with her nearly 200 students, she barely made time to leave the Academy for anything. She missed Aang and Katara's engagement party, and she only stopped by when they had a city-wide celebration for Republic City's formation. He understood that she had a lot of responsibilities but he missed her. Everyone did. How long had it been since he had seen her? He was pretty sure it was about two years ago!

Sokka refocused on his list: he still had to check in with a couple of food vendors, then his part of the planning was complete! He had organized with Toph's mother, Poppy Beifong, and they had chosen a large outdoor area in the backyard of the Beifong estate to entertain everyone. Ms. Poppy, as Sokka referred to her, was going to consult with Katara about the decorations when she arrived. Sokka had also hired a few musicians, even one who worked with singing groundhogs like the ones that they had seen when they were travelling through the Si Wong desert! Food, music, entertainment…he sighed with pleasure. He just loved when a plan came together.

Xx

Appa let out a loud groan as he descended from the air and landed in a somewhat familiar urban territory.

"I know, buddy, but trust me, no one's gonna hurt you…I won't lose you again," Aang reassured him while patting his large head.

Appa groaned again in return.

"I'm just glad they had room for him at this stable," Katara said, sliding off Appa's saddle. "It's not exactly like many cities have room for someone as big as Appa. Isn't that right, Momo?"

Momo jumped off of the saddle and soared over onto Katara's shoulder, chittering away and most likely hoping for some lychee nuts.

Aang grabbed their couple of bags and put them onto his shoulder with ease. Aang had celebrated his eighteenth birthday earlier that year, and Katara was not complaining…he had been a couple inches taller than her for some time, but now he was more muscular, and had started growing a beard. He definitely was not the twelve-year old boy she had discovered in the ice six years ago anymore, she mused.

Aang paid a deposit to the stable hand, who was more than happy to do business with the Avatar, and they were off to find the Beifong estate. Toph's party was scheduled for tomorrow, and their friends around the world should have started arriving already.

"Let's drop our luggage off, and then maybe we can find a good noodle place," Aang suggested with a smile.

Katara smiled back. "That sounds good. I still need to help Ms. Beifong with the decorations, though, so don't plan on spending the whole day wandering around eating!"

Aang stopped mid-step and slumped his shoulders, pouting at her. Okay, so maybe he was still a little childlike sometimes.

She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll make time for your stomach, too!" She patted his belly and he grinned.

They walked together for some time, enjoying the pleasant weather and each other's company. As they were walking through a somewhat seedy-looking block in the heart of the city, they saw a commotion at the end of a street. There were civilians and uniformed city guards alike crowding around what looked to be the entrance of an alleyway.

Aang and Katara shared a questioning look before walking over to the crowd.

"Um excuse me, does anyone know-"

"There's been a brutal attack!" an old man exclaimed, not waiting for Aang to finish his question. "Five men hurt, one dead!"

"Dead?!"

Aang started pushing his way through the group of people, saying "excuse me" and "sorry!" as he bumped through.

"Who's in charge here?" he asked when he reached a guard.

"That'd be Lieutenant Hano…and who might you be?" the young guard asked, raising his eyebrow.

Katara came up beside Aang, looking slightly disgruntled. "He's the Avatar."

The guard had the decency to look surprised before he called for his boss.

"Well, well," the lieutenant said, walking over to Aang. The lieutenant stood a good foot taller than him. "May I ask why the Avatar himself has graced us with his presence?" he asked with a smirk.

Katara scowled.

Aang coolly responded, "We heard there was an attack and a murder…we came to see if we could be of any help. You know, finding who did this, helping the injured…" he gestured to Katara, "my fiancé is an excellent healer." Katara nodded in agreement.

The lieutenant observed the two for another moment before bowing respectfully to them. They bowed in return.

"Well, thank you Avatar Aang, and…?"

"Master Katara," Aang answered.

"Yes. Thank you. I'm Lieutenant Hano…let's go to the scene," he said, leading them past the rest of the guards.

He allowed them to pass through earthen barriers they had put up to keep the civilians out by bending the earth gates back.

Aang's stomach roiled when he saw the amount of blood in the alley.

"So what we have here looks to be a group on group altercation…" Hano explained, gesturing to the end of the alley. "We have two sets of footprints that appear to have left the back of the alley and past the group of incapacitated men…the two culprits walked straight through their victims' blood without flinching," he said, pointing to a few partial bloody footprints leading out of the alley.

Katara grimaced. Aang looked like he was going to be sick.

"Now, we've called for a medical squad to arrive, but if you wouldn't mind," he looked at Katara, "we have one man who really needs attention right away."

Katara nodded resolutely. "Lead me to him."

They walked past a few groaning men and past a body with a sheet over it (Aang averted his eyes), and Katara could immediately tell who got the worst of the attack.

A tall man lay on the ground, quiet, his breathing shallow, his face a bruised mess. Katara immediately knelt down beside him. She popped off her water skin's lid and bent the water out of it and over her hands. They started to glow a bright blue as she hovered over his body.

"Where do you hurt the most?" she asked softly.

"My…ribs. Hard to breathe," he managed to get out.

Katara instantly sent her hands to his chest and his ribs, sensing internal damage.

"Whoever did this really did a number on you…your lung is punctured, but luckily it hasn't filled up with much blood yet. It's going to take me a little while to set this straight."

The man nodded. She went to work putting the bones back into place and fixing the damage done to his lung.

After a little over half an hour, Katara let out a long breath and pulled away from his sides.

"Your ribs will need time to heal on their own, but I've set them back to how they should be. They're just bruised, so go easy on yourself. How about I start on your face?"

The man nodded again.

"Are you sure you're not overworking yourself?" Aang asked, concern on his face.

"It's fine, Aang, he needs my help!" she snapped, her glowing hands going to his bruised face.

"There's lots of swelling…it feels like they even broke your cheekbone," Katara murmured, shaking her head slightly.

After a few minutes the swelling had gone down and the bruises looked less purple. Katara's hands stopped glowing and she looked at her patient.

"This must have been a really strong man who did this. Was he an earthbender?" she asked.

The man tried to snort in response, but ended up coughing. When he finally calmed himself down, he responded, "Yes and no…it was an earthbender, but not just an earthbender…a metalbender."

Aang and Katara looked at each other. A metalbender?

"And also…I'm kind of embarrassed about this, so please don't pass it on…" he closed his eyes. "It wasn't a man. It was a girl. A short little thing. And top it off…she was blind."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author note** : I had fun writing the dialogue in this one, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

* * *

"Ahh, there's my baby sister and her boyfriend!"

Sokka's voice rang out in the busy market square, drawing quite a few stares and glimpses back and forth between the young warrior, dressed in Water Tribe blue, and the couple not twenty feet away from him.

"Hi, Sokka…" Katara said softly as Sokka ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

"You been treating my sister right?" Sokka asked Aang with a stern look on his face.

"Yeah…listen Sokka," Aang cut him off before they could continue their new routine of 'fatherly figure scolds boyfriend'. Sokka looked at the two of them, noticing for the first time that they both looked particularly put-out.

Before Aang could finish, Sokka interrupted with, "What's the matter with you two? Is everything okay? _Is Appa sick?!_ "

Katara shook her head and Aang said, "No, Appa's fine, he's at a stable…but listen, we have some news for you…you're probably not gonna like it."

Sokka glanced back and forth between the two, and noting once more their serious expressions, he nodded. "Let's go someplace with a little more privacy."

* * *

"So…what you're trying to tell me is that Toph is a _murderer_?" Sokka's jaw had been hanging open for the past two minutes, not able to absorb what his friends had just told him. He would have laughed if not for their solemn expressions and tone.

They were in what appeared to be a very popular restaurant, but the owner had taken them back to a more private dining area upon learning that the Avatar himself had requested a more secluded dining space.

Sokka held rice in between his chopsticks, his mouth still agape in disbelief, the food in his hand forgotten.

Katara nodded. "That's what the evidence adds up to. Do you know any other short, blind, powerful, female metalbenders?"

Sokka slowly closed his mouth. He supposed not. Toph was one of a kind.

"No…but-"

"And do you know of any other short, blind, powerful, female metalbenders who have a thing for beating guys up?"

"No, but-"

"Do you know any other-"

"Okay, okay, I don't know anyone else who could have done this, especially since we know that Toph is in town. Have you gotten a chance to speak to her about it yet?"

"No," Aang answered. "We were on our way to drop off our things at the Beifong estate before we came across the crime scene," he gestured to his bags on the floor next to the booth. "We still haven't gotten there yet."

"Oh, good, because according to Ms. Poppy-"

"Ms. Poppy?" Katara questioned, raising an eyebrow at Sokka.

"-Toph is completely unaware of the party right now. So far, everyone else is staying at local inns and have managed to stay off of Toph's radar. So here's what I'm thinking…" he held both of his hands up, as if to keep the quiet couple from interrupting his great plan. "…surprise party!"

"What?!"

"Did you hear any of what we just said?!"

"Okay, so Toph may or may not have taken beating up a couple crooks too far, we're not going to know until we ask her ourselves." Sokka looked at the two with a somber look in his eyes. "That doesn't mean that this party is thrown out the window or that her birthday is canceled."

Aang opened his mouth to retaliate but Katara put her hand over his. He looked at her questioningly.

"Let's hear Sokka out on this, okay?"

Aang paused, then nodded.

"The way I see it, no matter what she did, she's only got this one birthday. She's going to be eighteen, officially an adult in the world's eyes! We've already put the plans in motion for pretty much everyone we know to be here, and even though her parents split up, I managed to convince Ms. Poppy to let Mr. Lao attend…this is kinda a huge deal for Toph's family. I've spent months planning this thing, and I don't want anything to ruin it." Sokka finally remembered the chopsticks in his hand and began to shovel food into his mouth after his brief speech.

Aang scowled. "Sokka, it's _just_ a party! We're talking about a serious crime here!"

"Sweetie…" Katara started with a sigh. "Don't be mad, but I think Sokka has a point."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am," she continued. "Trust me, I saw the pain she inflicted on those men. I know what she did just as much as you do." Aang swallowed as she went on. "But with this huge event for her tomorrow, I think it's best we wait until after to talk to her about it. We can confront her as soon as the sun comes up the next day if you want, but I don't think this is the right way to go about it. She's our friend, and while I can't imagine her reasons, I'm sure there's an explanation for what she did…can you please just wait another day before we talk to her?"

Aang let out a heavy sigh. He ran his hand over his bald head, absentmindedly, before he stopped and looked at Katara. They shared an intense look for a few moments before Aang looked at Sokka and nodded his agreement.

"All right, so party time it is! Then murder investigation!"

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother and Aang called over the waiter for another drink.

Hiding his mouth behind his hand, Sokka not-so-quietly whispered to Katara, "You really have him wrapped around your finger, don't you?"

His sister playfully slapped his hand and things were relatively normal for the rest of dinner.

* * *

"So, explain to me how this 'surprise' is going to work on our friend who can see people a mile away with her bending?" Katara asked.

They were finally settling in at the inn Sokka had found them. Katara was laying out some clothes for the next day while Aang laid on one of the beds, airbending some of the complimentary candies their hostess had given them up into the air with a little tornado.

"I'm glad you asked, dear sister, as you are a key component in the execution of this plan!" Sokka told her excitedly. "So, for Toph to see people, they usually have to be on earth of some sort, right? The floor, the ground, even up in a tree. _But_ , she can't see anything when she is either suspended in the air or in a pool of water."

Aang suddenly stopped bending and dropped the candies onto his face. "You want us to suspend her in the air with bending?!" He shot Katara a horrified look.

"No, no, no, silly Avatar," Sokka said, smirking slightly and shaking his head at the suggestion. "We're gonna suspend ourselves. Sort of. But instead of with airbending, and leaving it all on you, I figure we can hide ourselves in _water._ " He looked back and forth between them, waiting for them to see the genius in his plan.

"So…we're gonna flood the Beifong estate and swim around until she shows up?" Katara asked, scratching her head.

"No! Ugh," Sokka let out a frustrated groan. "Here's what we're gonna do. I already asked Ms. Poppy for permission-" Katara gave Aang a look.

"What? What's that look for?" Sokka asked.

"It's just weird, you've said that a couple times now…" Katara said.

"Said what?"

"You keep calling Ms. Beifong 'Ms. Poppy'. Isn't that a little informal?" She asked him.

"I've been talking with her through Hawky and I've come to Gaoling a few times specifically to see her and make plans for this party," Sokka explained. "We're well-acquainted with each other. She told me to call her that." He observed Aang and Katara. "Is it really that weird?"

"I don't know…I guess I just didn't realize how close you were to Toph's family," Katara admitted.

"Well someone's gotta be, she barely visits home anymore, let alone her father!" Sokka said with exasperation.

Katara had to restrain herself from giving Aang another one of those looks.

"Okay, okay, we get it, continue with the plan," Katara chided.

"I could get through it if you guys would stop interrupting me!" Sokka groaned. "Anyway, I've already planned it out with _Ms. Poppy_ ," he said, eyeing the two of them. Seeing that they weren't going to interrupt, he continued. "The grounds can take being flooded a bit. I'm thinking about chest high, enough to wade in. Ms. Poppy will lead Toph to the grounds, explaining that there was an accident and some flooding if Toph asks, and then you two will waterbend the water away into the prepositioned empty troughs to the side. Then, everyone will yell, 'surprise!', and we'll be revealed! I've had Haru start bending some tables and furniture and whatnot, so I'll just need you two to fill up the grounds with water, then _whoosh_ , send it away! Toph will never see it coming!"

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's tasteless joke while Aang laughed. "Sokka, that's actually kind of genius. She really won't see it coming." Katara glared at him. "What?! I meant with her earthbending!"

They continued to laugh while Katara huffed to herself and continued unpacking.

"Boys," she mumbled under her breath.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author note:** Hey guys, here's an update for ya!

* * *

 _She's running, panting, climbing up and up and up as the floor breaks away. She bends the metal above her and climbs out onto the roof of the airship, Suki and Sokka right behind her. She takes a step, hearing the whoosh of the fire and feeling the heat from the immense flames, before Sokka grabs her arm and starts pulling her along in the right direction. A rumble goes through the ship as it started to crumble. A cry, and down Suki goes. Their ship collapses, and they fall onto another. Sokka continues on, tugging on her arm until it feels like it's going to come right out of its socket. She sabotages this ship, too. A hatch opens, and suddenly there's fire, lots of fire, being sent straight toward them. She's being pulled again, and then Sokka pulls out his sword, stabs it into the ship, and rides down the side, holding onto her as they go down. They're falling, falling, falling, and she can't feel anything but Sokka as she goes, there's no connection to anything but him. Down they go until Sokka makes impact with something, a piece of the ship?, and then he's holding her hand to keep her from falling. Her heart is racing. Her palms are getting sweaty. Their fingers readjust as Sokka tries to hold all of her weight with just his one hand._

" _Toph…you're slipping…!" he grunts._

" _Don't let me go!" she shouts up at him._

" _Toph…I can't…"_

" _Do not let me go! Please don't let me go!" she begs._

" _I'm sorry," he cries as he releases her hand._

 _She screams and she's tumbling down, free falling through the sky, and she feels the flames' heat as she goes down, down, down…._

Toph awoke with a start, sitting up in her childhood bed, panting as she came to her senses. Her sheets were tangled around her legs, and she could feel the blood pounding in her temples. She swiped her bangs back, trying to calm herself down. She took a few deep breaths before kicking the sheets off of her legs.

She had this dream many times before, and she wasn't too surprised that she had it again. Sometimes when she was too stressed this dream would come, and other times it would come out of nowhere and haunt her sleep.

She got out of bed and walked down the hall of her family's home to find some water. She felt her mother was asleep in her room (her new room, as she had moved out of the room she had once shared with her husband), and a servant was in their quarters, while the rest of the home was quiet. She poured herself some water, then stepped outside.

She bent herself a chair out of the earth and sat down, the breeze playing with her hair. Gulping down the last of her drink, she tossed the glass to the side and sat with her head in between her hands. She sighed. She hated to admit it, but she would not be able to go back to bed tonight. Toph Beifong was never scared. Except when she had the nightmare.

She sat up, soaking in the night air and breathing deeply. She was eighteen today. The fear was going to stop here.

Then she felt it; a quiet tiptoe about fifty feet away, further down the grounds. She focused, firmly planting her feet down onto the earth. She could feel the man's heartbeat.

Who was it? A robber? A spy? Someone after her family, or someone after her? She shook her head and tried not to laugh. People really underestimated her.

She quickly stood up, bent her earth chair under her feet, and started a full run toward the man, the earth pushing and pumping under her feet, giving her extreme speed. She used this move whenever she needed to cover a great deal of distance quickly. Unfortunately, it wasn't the quietest move of hers, and she felt the man's attention focus on her, his heart rate picking up.

He was afraid. Good.

She was there in no time, and she stopped a few feet away from the stranger.

Before she could ask who the man was, he shouted, "Toph!" and began to run towards her.

She rooted herself and bent two small columns of earth up where he was going to be in a moment. He didn't see the move coming and he stepped forward as the earth rose up, the two columns jutting into both of his ankles. He let out a slightly girlish cry of pain as he fell forward.

Toph knelt down, and grabbed him by his ponytail, pulling his head up to face her.

"Who are you, and why are you creeping around the Beifong estate?!" she demanded to know.

The man started laughing. Laughing, at her! The nerve! She was about to give him a good punch to the face when her stomach dropped. That laugh!

"Sokka?!" she cried out, dropping his ponytail and earthbending the ground beneath him to set him standing straight once more.

He wobbled for a moment, then regained his stable footing.

"Jeez, Toph, you haven't seen your best friend in a couple years so you decide to kick his ass?!" he asked her with a laugh as he straightened his wolftail.

Toph grimaced. "I didn't know it was you! You don't feel the same at all!"

He chuckled. "I know, I know, _some_ of us have grown up," he said before receiving a punch in the arm, courtesy of Toph.

"I can't say I missed that," he said as he rubbed his soon to be bruised arm.

"Oh come on, that's how I show affection!" Toph reminded him.

"Well, this is how _normal_ people show affection!" Sokka said, and without any warning, he grabbed her and wrapped both of his arms around her, trapping her in a bear hug.

"Erg! Get! Off! Me!" she grumbled, trying to wiggle out of his grip, but he just hugged her tighter.

He really didn't feel the same anymore. He had gained a lot of muscle, and some height too. And did she feel facial hair tickling the side of her face?!

Toph suddenly remembered that she was in just her sleeping clothes, a lightweight shirt and barely-there shorts. Her face grew flushed and she stomped her foot down, bending earth in between them.

"Awww, come on Toph, I was just showing you how much I missed you!" Sokka complained, rubbing his jaw which had gotten smacked by her earth.

"Sorry, Snoozles, but you know hugging is _not_ my thing," she said, turning away so he wouldn't see her red face.

"Fine, but you owe me one consensual hug!" he insisted.

She grew even more flushed at his choice of words and she groaned at him. He laughed, thinking she was just dreading his promise to hold her to a hug.

She took a deep breath and turned to face him again. "Okay, now that I know it's you and not some peeping-tom pervert or burglar out here, you're off the hook for a good pulverizing. But why are you out here?" she asked.

Sokka started rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I uh…just happened to be in the neighborhood!" he claimed.

"You know I'm a human lie detector, right?" she said, folding her arms. She waited for another explanation.

"I…um…I'm in town…for…Suki!" he said, nodding his head to himself. "She's going to be in town tomorrow, or I guess today, and we decided to meet up."

"Okay, Miss Kyoshi is going to be in Gaoling, and you 'happen to be in the neighborhood', so you decide to meet up and end up in my backyard?!" she took a step closer to him, arms still folded, and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I'm waiting!"

"Well, Miss Kyoshi, as you so lovingly call her, happens to be traveling the Earth Kingdom looking for new recruits, and yes, I actually did happen to be in the neighborhood, seeing as I've been travelling around as a little vacation away from Republic City duties. I got here really late, and I couldn't find an inn open at this hour…I was actually going to come around and see if the Beifongs would be kind enough to let me stay the evening with them," he explained. He hoped his heart didn't skip a beat.

Toph scrunched her face up, as if thinking hard about something. It didn't seem like he was lying, but he also was not telling her the whole truth.

"So where's your stuff, then?" she asked with a smirk, thinking she had caught him in the middle of a lie.

"Right behind that rock I was accused of 'creeping' behind!" he said, and he ran behind the rock, returning with some gear and holding it triumphantly. "Ta dah!"

Toph unfolded her arms and put her hands on her hips, staring him down. Sokka knew she couldn't see him, but she was still analyzing him. He swallowed nervously while she deliberated.

After a couple moments, she dropped her arms and said, "Fine. I still think you're hiding something, Snoozles. But come on, we might as well give you a place to sleep all day." She motioned for him to follow her, and they started walking toward the estate.

"Aren't you gonna fix the mess you made out here?" Sokka asked, looking back at all the earth Toph had misplaced on the grounds where her party was going to be later today.

"Nope!" Toph answered. Sokka barely contained a whine, thinking of all the extra work Haru was going to have cut out for him in the coming hours. He was gonna owe him, big time.

* * *

Katara let out a grumpy huff, poking her head out from under her blanket and glaring at her fiancé.

"Couldn't you be a little quieter?!" she hissed at him.

Aang was pacing around their little room, his bed already made, his few belongings packed. They slept in separate beds not because Sokka booked the room for them (which he did), but because they were both waiting for marriage. Seeing as they were engaged and were almost at their goal, they decided to remain true to their cultures' traditions. So separate beds it was.

He glanced over at Katara, and seeing her irritated expression, he stopped pacing.

"Sorry," he whispered, shrugging at her.

"Well, I'm up now!" she griped, sitting up and pushing her blankets back. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to comb her hair. She looked at Aang with concern, her irritation lost. "You okay? What's on your mind?"

"This party," Aang admitted with a groan, sitting down on his bed to face her. "I'm just really worried that I won't be able to hold back all my questions, or that I'll see her and just freak out. This is a big deal to me…"

Katara sat her comb down and reached across to pull Aang's hands in hers. She gave him a small smile. "I know it'll be hard for you. But we just have to get through today. Trust me, I'm dying to know what happened in that alley and I want justice too, but we promised Sokka, and for good reason. We're going to talk to her first thing tomorrow," she assured him, running her thumbs over his fingers.

Aang let out a soft sigh and smiled at her. "Thanks Katara. You always know how to make me feel better."

There was a sudden knocking on their door, and Aang stood up to answer it.

"Haru!" Katara cried out, running to the door and pushing Aang to the side to grab Haru and give him a hug.

"Hey Katara," he chuckled. She moved away and he bowed to the avatar, who bowed back before they exchanged a quick one-armed hug.

"So you're staying here, too?" Katara asked him.

"Yup! And I just got this from a messenger hawk," Haru replied, pulling a scroll out of his pocket. "Looks like Sokka got himself into some trouble."

Katara rolled her eyes and Aang chuckled. "Nothing new there."

"Yeah, well, we've only got a few hours to get this party going. And I hope Sokka explained the surprise part to you, because I sure didn't get it," Haru said. "And it seems like he will be spending the next few hours distracting Toph while we finish preparations."

Katara shook her head, not at all surprised by her brother's antics. "Leave it to him to give us the responsibility of pulling his plan together while he runs around with Toph."

"Yeah," Haru said, continuing, "apparently he got caught snooping around the Beifongs' last night and Toph was seconds away from kicking his teeth in," he chuckled.

Katara worriedly looked at Aang; his expression was solemn but didn't reveal anything worrisome.

"Yeah, she can get a little carried away sometimes," Katara said, laughing nervously.

"Yeah…a little," Aang said darkly, turning away from them to grab his glider. "Sometimes."


	5. Chapter 5

Sokka was awoken abruptly by the sound of someone pounding on his bedroom door. For a fleeting moment he couldn't remember where he was, but then-

"RISE AND SHINE, SNOOZLES!"

Sokka groaned, trying to burrow his head into his pillow with no success.

"SOMETIME TODAY WOULD BE NICE!" Toph shouted through the door.

He groaned again and kicked off his blankets. He might as well get up now that his ears were practically bleeding.

"Okay, okay, I'll be out in a second!" he called back, his voice still gravelly from sleep. He took a moment to throw on some fresh clothes and to strap his boomerang to his back before opening the door to face the earthbender. He was greeted with a shoulder-height scowl and a punch to the arm.

"Get enough beauty sleep?!" Toph said over the sound of Sokka's pained yelp.

"No," he muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Well, sorry to hear that, uggo, but we've gotta get moving."

Sokka froze up. He had to get her out of the house so she wouldn't sense everyone outside fixing the place up for her party. He held his breath and hoped for the best.

"You're buying me breakfast."

* * *

They were out for a couple hours after getting breakfast, Sokka dragging Toph into various shops and asking if she liked certain items ("Yeah, yeah, looks great!"). Toph was mildly irritated that Sokka hadn't said anything about her birthday being today, but she knew he was a bonehead and had probably just forgotten. Sokka, however, was having a great time, and he knew the longer they were away from the estate, the better. He was just about to ask her if she wanted to go grab lunch when he saw an orange blur gliding above them.

"Oh _no_ ," he groaned.

"What is- Twinkle Toes?!" Toph exclaimed, surprised to feel her friend make impact with the earth. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," he stated firmly.

"Sheesh, you seem tense. Well, Sokka's stomach won't shut the hell up, so let's go get something to eat," Toph offered. "We can talk then."

Aang nodded, trying to save himself the embarrassment of an outburst in the middle of a crowded street.

* * *

"So, what are you doing here, and why is there a glider up your butt?" Toph asked, helping herself to a crispy appetizer. Aang had requested another private parlor in the restaurant they had eaten at previously, so as not to draw attention to themselves. He sat across from Toph and Sokka.

"I…er…" Aang glanced nervously at Sokka, who gave him and intense look with bulging eyes. "...happened to be in town."

"WHY does everyone keep saying that?! I know you're lying!" Toph said, exasperated.

"That's not the point!" Aang responded, getting irritated. "The point is, I know what you did to Ling and his crew in that alley!"

Sokka held his breath and looked to Toph.

She continued eating and shrugged, crumbs falling from her gesture. "Yeah, and?"

"And?!" Aang exclaimed.

"And _what?_ What's the problem, Twinkle Toes?"

Aang let out a frustrated sound and stood up. "The problem is, Toph, that you killed someone!"

"I did- what?" She dropped her irritated tone and tilted her head up to Aang, confused. "Ling died?"

"No, but one of his friends did. Your beating was too rough, Toph, you can't just go around picking fights with people!"

"Excuse me?!" Toph stood up as well. "'Picking fights with people'?! I'll have you know that they tried to corner _me_ and Penga in that alley. I would've let them off easy if they had taken the money and run, but they weren't _just_ thieves, Aang."

"What do you mean 'just' thieves?" Aang asked, leaning in over the table.

"I _mean_ that they were thieving, criminal, rapist scumbags who deserved what they got!" Toph slammed her palms down onto the table, leaning closer to Aang. "Like I said, they got off easy."

Sokka wiped his face with his hand and let out a small groan. "Guys, can you cool it-"

"You think killing someone, taking away their _life_ is getting off easy?!"

"I didn't mean to kill him," Toph admitted quietly. "I just wanted to teach them a lesson."

"Well, you did kill him, and there's no going back from that! I could have killed Ozai, but I picked the higher route-"

"Yeah, yeah, Twinkle Toes, we all know you were too much of a pansy to do what needed to be done-" Toph started.

"Toph!" Sokka squeaked.

"But that's the thing, oh Mr. Holier Than Thou Avatar," she continued. "Some of us know how the real world works. Some of us know that not everyone deserves a second chance…" she leaned in closer, her face inches away from Aang's. "Some of us know when the trash needs to be taken out."

Aang grabbed his staff from his seat and glared at her. "You're wrong, Toph," he said. "You aren't the one who gets to decide these things. There are laws and police for that." He started to walk away from the table.

"You should know as well as I do that the world isn't that simple!" she called after him as he ducked from behind a curtain partition. "I did the right thing!" she shouted.

"I think he's gone," Sokka said quietly. Toph sat down heavily.

"Typical air bender tactic- run away instead of facing your problems head on!" she said, frustrated.

"Toph, don't you think he has a point?" Sokka asked her.

"What, you're siding with him?!" Toph asked defensively.

"No, that's not it…I see both of your reasonings…" he started. He let out a small sigh. "Were they really rapists, Toph?"

She nodded solemnly. "I told them I was blind and threw my money at them. That wasn't enough for them. They were going to have their way with us if they could." She shrugged. "They just bit off more than they could chew."

Sokka nodded, understanding.

"Sokka…I…" she started a sentence, afraid her voice was going to break if she continued. He waited while she gathered her courage.

"I didn't mean to kill anyone," she whispered.

Sokka threw his arm around her shoulders and drew her in for a hug. She leaned in, resting her face between the crook of his neck and his shoulder while he patted her head. A waiter came by, and he made eye contact with Sokka, who shook his head, and then the waiter scurried away quickly.

"I know I said it was right, but I'm not so sure," she said, her voice muffled. "I know they were terrible people, but that wasn't my plan…"

"I know, I know," Sokka said, starting to rub circles on her back.

Toph sat there for another moment before exhaling heavily and pulling away from Sokka.

"How do I know if what I did was right?" she asked him, wiping her nose on her hand. Her tears were gone as quickly as they had come.

"That's the thing, Toph," he said, putting his hand on her knee. "You don't. But you have to live with it."

She turned away from him, shaking his hand off of her, and rested her head between her hands.

"But if it counts for anything, I would've done the same thing."

She turned back to him. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. It's one thing to mug someone. It's another to try to rape some helpless young girls." He said. Toph grumbled. "I know that you're not helpless," he added. "I'm just saying."

* * *

Toph had finally calmed down. As they were leaving the restaurant, joking together and feeling somewhat normal, Toph stopped in the street.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," she said.

"What?" Sokka started to ask before he saw what she was facing. A crowd of people started moving to the sides of the street to make way for a smaller group of people.

It was the Gaoling city guards. And they weren't alone. Aang was at the front, speaking with Lieutenant Hano.

Sokka let out a whine and looked up at the sky, asking the spirits out loud, " _Why?!_ "

Toph stood stock still, pointing her finger out at the group that was making their way toward them. "Twinkle Toes!" she shouted. Aang and Lieutenant Hano looked up.

"I _know_ you did _not_ turn me in to the popo!"

Aang grimaced and shrugged. "Sorry?"


	6. Chapter 6

"I _cannot_ believe I got arrested _on my birthday_!" Toph huffed, slumping over in her seat.

"For the last time, you are not under arrest!" Lieutenant Hano insisted, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Toph at a small table. "You're just here for questioning."

"Sure, and those guys out there are just for decoration!" she griped, gesturing to the door. Outside she knew about half a dozen policemen were standing by, waiting for their lieutenant's orders.

"Look…we just need to get through a formal interview about the incident, and then we can carry on with our days," Hano told her calmly.

"Fine, fine…but you better not hold me up."

* * *

"So, you admit that you and your accomplice-"

"Student," Toph interjected.

"-assaulted the group of men in that alley a few nights ago, and that you, while not intending to do more than, ahem…'pulverize them a bit'…you freely admit that you were the one who killed Mr. Ichi."

Toph huffed in her seat. Her butt was falling asleep. "Yes. You got it straight, oh Bossy Law-Man." She rocked back, leaning on the back two legs of her chair while her feet relaxed on the table. "I'm not a liar."

The lieutenant hid his growing smirk at his new nickname. He kind of liked this kid.

"Alright then, Ms. Beifong, thank you for your time, and you are free to go," Hano said, pushing his chair back as he stood and gestured to the door.

"I- what?!" Toph exclaimed, her front chair legs falling to the floor with a _thud_.

"You're free to go," he repeated. "And you can collect your payment at the front desk on the way out," he finished with a smile.

"Hold on, Bossy Law-Man, you're letting me go, and you're paying me?!" she stood up, shaking her head in disbelief. "Did I miss something?"

"You and your partner apprehended a dangerous crew of criminals that we have been after for quite some time," the lieutenant explained. "They were all wanted by the city guard, with bounties on their heads. Luckily for you, about half of them were wanted dead or alive for their crimes. That dirtbag, Ichi, was one of those."

Toph's jaw dropped. "I knew they were bad guys, but I didn't think it'd be okay to _kill_ any of them…"

Hano shrugged. "They've been robbing civilians and tourists alike for years, and Ling and Ichi have both had serious run-ins with the law for their past sexual assaults. We even think they're responsible for a couple of our cold case murders. They are violent criminals, and Gaoling would like to thank you for helping them take these dangerous men off the streets." He started walking out the door, and Toph followed, passing the guards who were posted outside of their interview room.

Toph let out a low whistle. "Wow. Well, that was unexpected. How much do I get?" she asked, rubbing her hands together and starting to grin.

Hano led her to the front area, where a nervous little man sat behind a desk. "Well, you got six criminals, all of them with bounties, two of them with serious yuans on their heads…" he leaned forward and stuck his hand out in front of the man at the desk, shaking it impatiently in front of him. The man, Yu, started shifting through files hurriedly, finally grabbing a folder and thrusting it into his boss's hand.

Hano skimmed the files before speaking. "Ling and Ichi were both wanted for 20,000 yuans each, and the others with lesser amounts, so it looks like you'll be getting just under 50,000. I expect you to split it with your partner, though," he said, looking up from his folder sternly. "Do we need to bring her in here too?"

Toph shook her head. "I'll split it, no worries. I already told you, I'm not a liar."

Hano smiled at her. "I know."

He tossed his folder down onto the desk and Yu immediately took it and began filing it away. "Now, I gotta pick some of this money up from the bail bondsmen who are helping us put up such a high reward for these guys. Can you come back tomorrow for the reward?"

Toph grinned at him. "I'd be happy to."

She started walking out of the police station, a huge smile on her face, and as she was leaving she called back, "Thanks, Bossy Law-Man!"

The Lieutenant chuckled, then thought he heard a laugh behind him. He immediately dropped his smile and glared at his lackey behind the desk. "What's so funny?"

Yu's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. He dropped the files he was holding and dozens of sheets of paper started falling all over the place.

Lieutenant Hano stalked off. "That's what I thought."

* * *

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," Sokka rambled, pacing back and forth in Aang and Katara's room at the inn.

"Sokka…calm down," Katara told him. She was sick of watching him pace and was growing irritated. "It's gonna be okay."

"How?!" Sokka cried, stopping in place and turning to face his sister. "In what way is this 'okay'?! Toph got arrested!"

Katara frowned. She wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out, she just wanted to calm her brother down.

The door opened suddenly, and Aang walked in, leaving the door open behind him.

"You!" Sokka shouted, walking up to the avatar and meeting him eye to eye. "How could you do that?! You turned in one of your best friends to the cops!"

Aang glared at him. "I didn't mean to! And it's not my fault she committed a crime! Friend or not, justice needs to be served."

Sokka made a strangled noise and fell back onto the bed behind him. "I cannot believe this," he said, covering his face with his hands. "Toph is gonna have the worst birthday ever."

"I _knew_ you didn't forget!"

Sokka sat upright in a flash and everyone turned towards the doorway.

"Toph!" Sokka cried out, running over and pulling her into a hug. "You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive, Meat Head, now get off me," she said, pushing him off of her with one arm.

"How did you get out? Did you metal-bend your prison bars? Did you bend the guards' hand cuffs over their own wrists? Did you-"

"No, Sokka, I didn't do any of that, now shut up so I can tell you what happened," Toph interrupted. "They let me go."

"What? Are you serious? They let you go for murder?" Aang asked, folding his arms over his chest. "Did you say you didn't do it?"

"No, I didn't lie," Toph scowled. "I told them the truth. About every last bit of it." She strolled over the bed and flopped down, putting her arms under her head. "They let me go."

Katara frowned. "Really? Why?"

Toph blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Turns out they were all wanted with some serious bounties on their heads…" she sat upright, smiling at her friends. "They're gonna pay me tomorrow."

"What?!" Aang exclaimed.

"Wow," said Sokka.

Katara's jaw dropped and she didn't say anything.

"They're…they're gonna pay you…for killing someone?!" Aang asked in shock.

"Yup!" Toph said, her smile growing bigger. "I gotta split the yuans with Penga, but man I'm gonna be loaded for a while!"

"I can't believe this," Aang groaned, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Cheer up, Aang, Toph is out of prison, justice was served, and now our richy rich friend can buy us all drinks later," Sokka said with a smile. He sat on the bed next to Toph and put his arm around her shoulder. "Right, _best friend_?"

"Oh, lay off of that crap," Toph said, shoving him roughly and pushing him off of the bed. He made a squeaking noise on the way down. "Anyway, now I'm here to find out what's going on. You pretend you don't know it's my birthday, and you all show up here out of nowhere and try to hide at an inn. What gives?" she asked.

Aang and Katara looked at each other, then at Sokka, who was on the floor rubbing his bruised behind. He gave them a bulgy-eyed look that screamed, 'don't say anything', and stood up.

"Toph…we didn't want to talk about this right away, but since you insist on getting right down to business…" Sokka sat down next to her on the bed while Aang and Katara waited for what he was going to say. "We want to talk about Republic City again."

Toph groaned, not noticing Aang and Katara sighing with relief at Sokka's quick excuse. "Not this again!"

"We're serious, Toph, you should hear us out!" the warrior responded. "We really think you should come help us with building it."

"You have Aang there to earthbend, why do you need me?" she asked, falling back onto the bed once more.

"We don't mean to _literally_ build it…that part is pretty much over with," he looked down at her, twisting his mouth a little as he tried to think of what could convince her. "We're talking about forming the government, the schools, transportation, deciding the rules and who's in charge of them. We want you by our side as we start this," Sokka said passionately.

Toph closed her eyes and breathed in heavily. She knew they were waiting on her, and she sat quietly for a few moments.

"Let me think about it."

Sokka jumped off the bed, pumping his fist through the air ecstatically. He immediately stopped, turned back to Toph, and bowed politely. "Of course, Ms. Beifong."

She threw a pillow at his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author note:** Hey guys! I'm super happy to respond to my first reviewer (woo!): Kanto _will_ be in the story, but not until a while later. I'm trying to keep to the canon, though, so I definitely have plans for him.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

* * *

Sokka tried to keep his heartrate down and hoped he didn't start sweating. It was now or never. Months spent planning, and it was all coming down to this moment…

He had spent a few hours with Toph, Aang, and Katara, then the couple left claiming to have "date" plans (the thought of which made both Toph and Sokka groan and complain about the "oogies"), but Sokka knew they were really helping to finish up the final preparations for the big surprise party, which he appreciated. He spent the rest of the time up until the party just goofing around with Toph. He was her "distraction".

His stomach started doing little flips; he was really nervous about the execution of this…was he even totally sure that Toph couldn't just sense the crowd of people in Katara's little river out in the Beifong's yard? She was a really powerful earthbender, what was to stop her from sensing someone just _above_ the earth? He knew that was unheard of, but she so was metal-bending until she stuck her mind to it-

"You okay, Meat Head?" Toph asked him, ripping him away from his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he responded quickly. Boy he was tense….

"It's just dinner with my mom," Toph said with an eyeroll. When did she learn to do that? "You shouldn't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" he squealed.

"Right, your heart is just going a mile a minute for no apparent reason," she said sarcastically.

He knew he was obvious, but he had hoped she wouldn't call him out on it. But that wasn't Toph…she was too straightforward to avoid what was on her mind.

"Hey, I have an idea!" he said suddenly with a grin. He stopped mid stride, about five feet from the Beifongs' gate. He could be straightforward too.

Toph frowned slightly. "What…"

Before she could finish her thought, he scooped her up in a quick motion, and twisted her around so that she was on his back, her legs through his arms, piggy back style. Her arms started pin wheeling in an attempt to keep her balance, and she latched her them around his neck.

"What kind of idea is this?! Manhandling me?!" Toph yelped. She was glad he wasn't facing her because she was sure her face was turning pink at their sudden closeness.

"I just thought," Sokka started, not hiding his smile, "that seeing as you're the birthday girl, and you've had such a long day, what with being arrested and all-" Toph groaned, "-you deserve some relaxation."

He continued walking, sliding Toph's small body up his back slightly as he went. "Just think of me as your celebratory escort!"

Toph snorted. "My escort?"

"Yup, and hey, if you decide that you wish to tip me generously," he said, walking past the front door and toward the back area, "then it would be greatly appreciated."

Toph tilted her head back and let out a little laugh. Sokka swore his stomach did another flip. He really needed to learn to control his nerves!

"Okay then, Escort Meat Head, carry on!" she said, the smile evident in her voice. If he wanted to act like a kid and carry her around, she wasn't going to argue.

They continued walking for a few moments, Toph leaning forward so that her chin was on Sokka's shoulder. He could see everyone down below, going along with his plan. They looked really silly floating in her backyard.

"Mush, Escort, faster!" Toph whooped, suddenly pulling back from his shoulder and poking him in the ribs. He let out a high-pitched noise that he didn't know he could make and started jogging.

"Wow, I seriously have the slowest escort _ever_ ," Toph drawled. They were getting closer to the party area now… "And I mean that in more than one sense."

Sokka grew a little flushed and started flat-out running towards the group of people ahead of him. He saw that someone had earthbent a little fence around the area to enclose the water. He could see Katara staring at them with her head tilted to the side in confusion while Aang scratched his head. He supposed they must look strange with him running toward them with the blind birthday girl on his back.

"On boy!" Toph demanded as if he were a polar bear dog, tugging on the back of his wolf's tail. Okay, now this was gonna be humiliating.

He stopped, wheezing slightly, less than a foot away from the wall. He could see Teo, whose wheelchair was encased in ice to help him float steadily, was trying not to laugh at them. It looked like a couple other people, including some of Toph's metalbending students, were also holding back their laughter. Sokka tried not to let out a groan out of embarrassment.

"We here now?" Toph asked him. He answered by easing her off of his back.

"Why are we in my backyard?" she asked when her feet hit the ground. "And what's up with that wall-"

Suddenly, in a fluid motion, Haru and Ho Tun, Toph's largest metalbending student, bent the earthen walls down while Aang and Katara simultaneously waterbent the water behind the walls up and out of the area, dumping it into a few troughs and empty barrels that were set aside. The group of about fifty people, all there to celebrate Toph's birthday, hit the ground together and shouted, " _Surprise!_ "

Toph stood there in shock, her jaw dropped, and she gripped Sokka's arm in surprise. It took her about five seconds to process what had just happened. A guy Sokka didn't recognize with long, dark hair, shouted, "Happy birthday!"

Toph finally digested the scene in front of her and broke out in a grin. " _Wow_ guys…" she let go of Sokka's arm and started walking toward the group of people. "You managed to surprise the world's greatest earthbender!" Sokka beamed. It worked!

A couple of her students came forward to hug her, and Sokka was surprised when she didn't immediately push them away as she often did with him.

" _The Boulder_ is proud to have bested the Blind Bandit," said a distinctive voice from behind Aang. Toph laughed at this, and they walked toward each other and bowed, then they exchanged punches to the arms.

As Toph made her way through the crowd, greeting people happily and punching too many arms to count, Katara approached her brother.

"You did a good job, Sokka," she said with a smile, patting his shoulder. "I wasn't sure if you'd be able to pull it off."

"Ha!" he grinned back at her, pointing his thumb toward himself. "I'm the master planner in our group, of course I could pull off a little surprise party!"

Katara rolled her eyes then went to unfreeze Teo from his ice cube wheelchair. He saw Toph had stopped punching arms for a moment to bow politely to her father. He bowed back, then pulled her into a quick hug. Sokka smiled; he was really glad they had reconciled after her father had disowned her. Even though she didn't act like it, he had really hurt her.

"So…I guess you know Toph pretty well, huh?" asked a voice beside him. Sokka turned and saw that it was the long haired guy who he didn't recognize earlier.

"Uh, yeah, I'd say so, considering I'm one of her best friends," Sokka smirked. "And you are?"

The young man stuck his arm out for a Water Tribe style arm-clasp. Sokka took his arm and as they pulled apart, the man said, "I'm Sheng. I'm sure you've heard about me since you're Toph's _best friend_ ," he said with a smug smile.

"Er, no, sorry," Sokka said, scratching the back of his neck. "I haven't."

"No biggie," Sheng shrugged. "She's not a big fan of PDA, so I'm not surprised."

"P…DA?" Sokka asked, an eyebrow quirking up.

"You know, public displays of-"

"I know what it means!" Sokka shrieked.

Sheng laughed, his hair falling back over his shoulders. Sokka could see he had little metal studs all through his ears. He frowned at him.

"Ahh, Escort Meat Head!" Toph called, strutting over and interrupting the awkward conversation. She had a drink in her hand, and Sokka was suddenly second-guessing his decision to order alcohol from the caterer. "I see you've met Sheng!"

"Er…yeah, he was just introducing himself," Sokka explained, looking back and forth between the two of them.

Toph hooked her arm through Sheng's, and he leaned down and planted a big kiss right on Toph's mouth. Sokka, flabbergasted, starting sputtering nonsense as he witnessed this.

"Well, he's a good boyfriend, so don't play too rough with him," Toph said when they pulled away from each other. "That's my job," she finished with a joking tone.

Sheng looked at Sokka with a smile; Sokka was still stammering out gibberish as Toph strolled away.

"Boyfriend?!" he managed to get out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author note:** I'm glad you guys like where this is going! I love getting reviews, it really makes my day, so thanks everyone.

* * *

Sokka hummed and took a deep drink out of his mug. He was having a sweet mead, one of the finest imports from the Fire Nation, and was sitting alone at a little earthen table off in the corner, watching the party guests eat, drink, and dance while different entertainers stopped by diners' tables. Even Aang had decided to put on a show, air scootering around and showing off new tricks to friends and strangers alike.

"Why the long face?" a voice asked from behind him.

He turned to answer the stranger, then immediately jumped when he recognized who it was. "Suki!" He leapt up and pulled her into a hug. When she pulled away, he asked, "When did you get here?!"

"Just a couple of minutes ago," she answered, sitting down and joining him at his table. She was out of her usual uniform and in a red party dress. "Sorry that Zuko and I were late. Things have been pretty hectic back home."

Back…home? Did she mean Kyoshi Island or the Fire Nation Palace? Before he could ask, he was joined by the Fire Lord himself. He sat across from Sokka, next to Suki.

"Your Fieriness," Sokka said with reverence, bowing his head to Zuko.

Zuko rolled his eyes and Suki giggled. "So how's life in the Fire Nation been treating you two?" Sokka asked, scooting his chair closer to Suki and taking her hand in his.

"It's been _amazing_ ," Suki gushed as a waiter stopped by to ask them if they wanted drinks. Sokka shook his head no, and Zuko ordered something. "The other Kyoshi Warriors and I have really started to love it there. It's such a busy palace, right in the heart of the Fire Nation, and there's so much to do! When we're not, you know, saving the Fire Lord's life and all," she said with a twinkle in her eye, nudging Zuko's arm.

Zuko rolled his eyes again, but Sokka could tell that he was holding back a smile.

"I bet you gotta save his butt _all_ the time," Sokka chimed in, hoping to irritate his old friend.

"You would be right! Just last week there was an attempt on his life," Suki said, lowering her voice conspiratorially.

"The royal seamstress just pricked me when she was sizing my new robes!" Zuko claimed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "It wasn't that serious."

"Oh, I don't know…" said Suki. "The way you screamed, the whole palace thought you were being murdered."

They were saved from hearing Zuko's explanation when the waiter arrived.

"One fire whiskey and one iced tea, hard," he stated as he carefully placed drinks in front of the Fire Lord and his personal guard. Then he scurried off.

"Hard iced tea?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend. She wasn't usually one to drink alcohol.

She shrugged and glanced at Zuko for a moment. "I've been indulging a little more lately. You know, after a stressful day at work, it can help to unwind," she explained as she took a sip. "Wow that's got a kick to it!" she added.

The Fire Lord stood up and clapped Sokka's shoulder. "Looks like it'll be your turn to clean up your mess of a girlfriend after a couple of these," he told him with a smirk.

Sokka let out a worried noise as Zuko walked away with his drink, leaving the couple alone.

"I've really missed you," he confessed, leaning in to be closer to his girlfriend.

"I've missed you too," she said, glancing over his shoulder then back to him.

"Don't you think you've done your part with helping Zuko as his personal guard?" Sokka asked her. He had been thinking about this conversation for a while now. "I mean, you've been in the Fire Nation for almost five years now."

Suki lowered her gaze and set her drink down on the table. "I don't think so, Sokka."

"Well, when will you be done? And what will you do when you're done? Are you going back to Kyoshi Island permanently?" he pressed.

"I don't have the answers to these questions right now," she said, her frustration rising. "To be honest, I haven't really thought much about the future…"

Sokka frowned slightly, pulling her chin up so that she would make eye contact with him. "What about with me?"

She pulled away and stood up.

"Suki, come on, you've been barely responding to my letters for the past few months, I think I deserve a couple answers," Sokka softly told her.

"Look, let's not do this now, at the party…I don't want to make a scene…" Suki said, tugging on her hair. She always did that when she was anxious. Sokka swallowed the lump in his throat. "We can catch up later tonight, if that's okay."

"Alright."

* * *

Toph was having an _amazing_ time. Seriously. All of her friends, her students, and even her family were here to celebrate who else but her? She had been in a great mood all night, laughing, bouncing around from table to table, even dancing with King Bumi. It didn't hurt that she had a few drinks in her, either. But hey, she was of legal age as of today! She was finally an adult, and people had to respect that. Plus, she was going to be coming into a good chunk of change tomorrow. Life was good.

She just wouldn't think about _how_ she'd come in to that money, was all.

She realized she was laughing entirely too loud at a Kyoshi Warrior's joke (there's too many warriors to remember all their names, anyway), and she decided to go get some air. She wandered a little ways off from the party, to a more secluded area in the back.

She sensed someone nearby, and quickly shouted, "Sparky!"

The Fire Lord turned toward her with a smile. "Hey, birthday girl."

"How're you digging the party?" she asked him, leaning on the railing he was leaning on. He was probably looking off at the moon or something.

"It's fun," he said monotonously.

"Wow, no need to lie, Prissy Lord, now tell me, what's the deal?" She may be a little too aggressive, but who cares! She took another sip of her drink.

He let out a sigh and steered her even further away from the party. She could barely hear the music where they were.

"I'm having a…a…lady problem," he admitted.

"Woah, I'm not good with lady problems, but if you got the cramps-"

"Ugh!" he groaned with frustration. "See, I knew I couldn't talk to anyone about this."

Before he could storm off, Toph grabbed a hold of his arm. "Calm down, Sparky, I'm just messing with you. Sorry if I went a bit far," she said genuinely. "You can tell me about your problems. Really."

He considered her for a moment before nodding. "Okay then." He took a deep breath, then started over. "I like a girl."

"Ooooh, go Sparky!" Toph said, punching his shoulder.

"Ow…no, it's not a good thing," he explained. "She's kind of involved with someone else."

"Damn, we got a homewrecker on our hands!" she joked.

He scowled and said a little too loudly, "She's not married!" He noticed how loud he was then lowered his voice. "She's with someone, but she's not married."

"Then who cares?!" Toph asked, throwing her hands up in the air. "It can't be that serious then!"

"It is, though…they've been together for a long time…"

"And?"

"And I don't want to mess up any friendships by moving in on someone else's territory!"

Toph rolled her eyes, then leaned in, clutching Zuko's arm. "Look here, Fire Lord, it's your life. You have to put yourself first," she started to wobble and Zuko put his arm around her waist to stabilize her. "So now _you_ have to decide- who deserves to be happy? You, or some chump?"

"It's not that easy!" he practically shouted at her. Then he quieted himself again. "They're…they're good friends. Really good friends."

"Woah…" Toph said, pulling back slightly from Zuko. "You can't be talking about Su-"

"SHHH!" he hissed, throwing his hand over her mouth before she could finish her sentence. "Someone could hear you-"

"Woah, what's going on over here?!"

Zuko immediately recoiled, pulling his hand away from Toph's mouth and his arm away from her waist. They turned to see who the intruder was.

"Oh, Sheng, it's just you," Toph said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she regained her balance on her own.

"Sheng?" Zuko asked.

"My boyfriend, loverboy, make-out man, bed buddy, whatever you wanna call him," she said, pulling him over to her.

"Er…ever hear of too much information, Toph?" Zuko asked, sticking his tongue out and making a 'blech' face.

"Nope!" she said with a smile. " _Anyway_ ," she continued. "About your _problem_ …You have one of two choices: you either tell her how you feel, which could lead to total and utter rejection _or_ complete and eternal bliss…or, you could ever speak of it again and take how you feel to your grave and just settle." She pulled away from Sheng and leaned in to Zuko, cupping her hand around his ear and whispering a little too loudly, "Trust me, you don't wanna settle."

Before Zuko could respond, Sheng grabbed his intoxicated girlfriend and started walking her back to the excitement of the party.

"Nice meeting you!" Zuko called after him awkwardly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author note:** Thanks ATLAlover3 for all the sweet reviews!

Here's an update, it's a bit longer than some previous chapters, so I hope you enjoy! Let drama ensue!

* * *

As the night grew longer and the partying went on, Toph continued enjoying herself with drinks and dancing, even going so far as to take a singing groundhog and put it in her hair. After spilling her drink on Haru and laughing too hard about it, she realized something was missing…Where was Sokka? As she grew more intoxicated, her vision appeared to be getting a bit fuzzier, and she couldn't see as clearly or as far as usual. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and tried to sense the Water Tribe warrior. She couldn't feel him anywhere. She excused herself by pushing Haru into Ty Lee and walked off, eager to find her friend.

Toph had spoken to her mother for a bit at the beginning of the party, and she had gushed over how well-mannered that "young man" Sokka was, and how he had essentially planned the entire party by himself over the course of a few months. Toph couldn't believe that he went through all of this trouble for her…it was really, well, thoughtful.

"Where is that oaf?" she mumbled to herself out loud, misstepping slightly as she searched for Sokka.

"…I can't keep living like this!"

Toph's ears perked up and she froze, shifting herself so that she was hidden behind an abandoned snack vendor's stand.

"Suki…" a familiar voice murmured softly.

"I just can't…It's not fair to him," she responded. "I know we haven't…actually _done_ anything…but it still feels so wrong," she whispered.

"Look, I don't care if it's not fair, I really like you and we can't keep pretending that something isn't there," said another hushed voice.

What did Toph just stumble into?!

"I…I think I love you," the man said pleadingly.

 _I've gotta get outta here!_ Toph thought, and she started to flee the scene, only bump into the stand a little too hard, causing the umbrella to wobble into a string of lanterns that were hanging low in the air…which ripped down the lighting and caused some momentary chaos.

Toph continued her attempt to run, and ended up in a tangle of paper lanterns and egg rolls.

"Toph?!" Suki exclaimed, frozen in shock at seeing the blind earthbender feet away from where she was having a very private conversation.

"Agni…" Zuko groaned.

"Uh, heya, guys," Toph said sheepishly, lifting her hand to wave slowly at them. "Nothing to see here. I did _not_ hear a thing!"

Suki and Zuko groaned simultaneously, the Fire Lord pinching the bridge of his nose and Suki covering her face in embarrassment.

"Why couldn't she be deaf instead of blind?" Suki moaned, cursing her luck that her boyfriend's best friend happened to overhear someone else confessing his love to her. What a mess…

Toph tried to untangle herself from the string of lights, only to tie herself up further. She let out a frustrated cry and proceeded to flop backwards, giving up.

"Just leave me here to die," she whined.

Zuko, the most sober one of the bunch, made his way over to the birthday girl and began to help her. She lay there as he tossed bits of food away and worked at untangling the knots she had managed to get stuck in.

"There, you're free to continue wreaking havoc on your friends' lives," he told her with a grim chuckle.

"Why me?" she asked herself.

Zuko, extending his hand and helping her up, responded, "Because you're a natural born trouble-maker, that's why."

* * *

Sokka was a mess. He was pretty worried about what was going on with Suki, and he was looking for distractions. Luckily for him, he was at a party. Unluckily for him, there was alcohol. Sokka had already done shots with Longshot and challenged The Duke to a drinking contest, and he was starting to look worse for wear.

Katara decided that she couldn't take Sokka's embarrassing behavior anymore, and knowing that he wouldn't listen to his baby sister lecture him, she pushed her fiancé towards him.

Aang cleared his throat as Sokka finished telling the story about how he lost Space Sword to whoever was listening. "So…Sokka…think you might wanna slow down on the drinking?" he suggested.

Sokka clapped Aang on his back, sending the airbender off-balance for a moment. "Oh, Aang…you don't get it yet…this-" he lifted his mug into the air, holding it like it was a holy relic, "-is how you have fun. This is how a real man solves his problems," he explained with a belch.

"Er, right," Aang said, trying to pull the drink from his hands. "I think you've had enough problem-solving juice to solve all of our problems."

"Aang!" Sokka whined, tugging his mug back so quickly that is sloshed and splashed onto his tunic. "Please…I kind of need this tonight," he finished quietly.

Aang sighed heavily, then patted him on the shoulder. "Whatever you need, buddy." He rejoined his fiancé, who was frustrated that he hadn't slowed Sokka down at all.

* * *

After downing the last of his drink, Sokka realized very suddenly that he needed to use the bathroom. He ran off to the estate, hoping he wouldn't bump into Ms. Poppy…that would be embarrassing. He knew he was in no state to hold a decent conversation with Toph's mother.

He emptied his bladder, then took a moment to observe himself in the mirror. His eyes were red and his wolf's tail was coming slightly undone. He splashed some cold water on his face in hopes that it would sober him up a bit.

When he wasn't out at the party distracting himself with other people, his thoughts immediately flew back to Suki. Would she leave him? Or did she want a commitment from him? He loved her, and he wished that she lived closer to him (or even with him, at this point), but he wasn't sure if he could handle marriage…Aang and Katara were trying that, and they were still so young! How can you tell that you want to be with someone the rest of your life at that age? Was that how he felt when he was with Yue?

He closed the washroom door behind him a little more loudly than he had intended to, and he flinched. The house was very quiet and very still. He wondered if Ms. Poppy was sleeping. He crept down the hallway, hoping to make it back to the fun of the party quickly.

The hallway led to a sitting room-type parlor, which he didn't remember walking through to find the restroom. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a sniffly sound ahead of him; he could just see the silhouette of a man sitting in a chair and holding something small in his hands- a portrait of some kind? _Oh jeez, that's Mr. Beifong!_ Sokka realized. He quickly started backtracking, but his foot knocked into a decorative table with a vase on it. The vase began to wobble, and despite his inebriated state, he was able to gently push the vase back down to rest on the table once more. The sound, however, attracted Lao Beifong's attention, and as he turned to ask, "Who's there?", Sokka rushed into the first open room in the hall.

Sokka pressed his back against the wall inside the room, panting at the sudden rush of adrenaline he felt. He was glad that his warrior instincts kicked in…he did _not_ want to have a conversation with Toph's depressed dad while he was drunk. Talk about awkward.

When he was sure that he wasn't being pursued, he stepped away from the wall and surveyed his surroundings. It was a rather large bedroom, with beautiful curtains and a handcrafted furniture set, complete with vanity and armoire. The vanity, however, had none of the typical female accessories such as make up, jewelry, or perfume. All it held was an old-looking comb. There was no art on the walls. He also noticed the rug that was around the bed wasn't even, and instead was kicked up in some places and looked to have some fresh mud on it. _Was this…Toph's room?_

He wasn't sure what came over him, but he snooped a little more, and when he found a long metal chain in the nightstand drawer, he was sure it was her room. He knew that she didn't stay here often, but this was her childhood room and it was where her mother always put her when she returned home.

"How long are you planning on creeping in here, or should I just come back later?"

Sokka practically jumped out of his skin at the sound of Toph's voice. He dropped the metal chain he had found and avoided her gaze, not considering that she couldn't read his facial expression.

"Sorry, Toph, I just…er…I don't know what I was doing," he admitted.

Toph shrugged and walked across the room, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I guess you're just nosy then, huh?"

He blushed slightly and sat down next to her. "I guess I am…what is this thing anyway?" he asked, picking up the chain from the floor and lifting it up.

"Oh, my chain!" she said, bending the metal out of his hand and into hers. "I use it as a weapon most of the time," she explained. Even though she was still pretty drunk, she had the urge to show it off to Sokka. "See, I work it like this…" she bent the metal so that the chain coiled a bit around her wrist, giving her the stability and control to whip it forward then back to her. She bent the metal across the room and flicked her comb off of the vanity, which sent it flying to the other side of the room.

"Hey, that's pretty cool!" Sokka said, wide-eyed.

"Hmph, normally I could grab something small and bring it back to me," Toph frowned. She wasn't sure if she liked being this out of touch with her bending. She probably shouldn't have had so many drinks…and egg rolls…

Sokka sighed and said, "Toph, you're so cool."

She slumped back onto the bed and shook her head. "I don't know if I feel like it right now," she admitted to him.

He lay back as well, turning to face her and propping his head up on his elbow. "Why?" He yawned. Getting too drunk makes him sleepy.

"It's been a weird couple of days," she said, shrugging slightly, her sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"Welcome to the grown up life, kid," Sokka chuckled, looking down at her. He couldn't believe it…Toph was the toughest one of their group, easily the strongest and most badass earth bender he has ever known, and she's always been a kid. Now she's an adult. When did time start flying by so fast?

"You know what would make me feel like a grown up?" she asked him, turning toward him and propping herself up on her elbow as well.

"Hmm?" he asked, trying not to doze off right there. This bed was pretty freaking comfy.

"Fulfilling a childhood wish," she said softly. She blew her bangs out of her face, and he felt the little puff of air across his face.

Was she getting closer to him, or was he just woozy? "And what would that be?" he asked her quietly, his hand muffling his words slightly as he forced himself to stay propped up.

"Let me show you," she whispered as she started leaning in toward him.

Woah, now she was definitely getting close…what was going on? Sokka's eyes widened as Toph's closed, and she leaned in, closer, closer…their lips were inches apart…

Toph's eyes snapped open, a look of panic on her face. Before Sokka could even think of what to say, she turned her head slightly and vomited all over his arm.

He groaned as she recoiled away from him as fast as she could.

"I'm so sorry," she managed to get out before she puked again in her open nightstand drawer.

He jumped off her bed, shaking his arm out over it and groaning. With his free arm, Sokka pulled the collar of his shirt up over his nose to try and keep the smell out of his face. "What did you eat?!" he squealed at her.

She spent the next few moments vomiting up the contents of her stomach into one of the finest nightstands in the earth kingdom. After she was done heaving, she answered, "Dirty egg rolls..."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author note:** Hey all, sorry for taking a bit longer than usual to update. It's my last week of summer classes, woo! Anyway, thanks to my new followers and reviewers, I really appreciate it!

Also, I'd like to note that I have lots of plans for this fic besides relationship drama. So please don't think that's all this thing has to offer.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

Toph groaned when she finally started waking up. It felt like her whole world was spinning, and she sat up quickly and vomited in her nightstand drawer once more.

"Yuck, didn't you get all that out of your system already?" Katara asked as she walked into the room.

"Bergles," Toph grumbled, flopping herself back onto her bed and trying to ignore the overwhelming smell of barf in her room.

"Okay…well, I brought you some water, I'll put it above your…puke zone," her friend told her, closing the nightstand drawer and setting a glass of water down. She left quickly.

When she felt the urge to hurl again, Toph sat up. "Just let me die, already," she moaned softly to herself, pushing her sweaty bangs away from her face. Luckily, she didn't vomit again, and she reached for the glass of water. She nearly knocked it over before she could get a proper hold of it. She mentally thanked Katara for bringing her exactly what she needed as she sipped from the glass, trying to remember last night. She remembered…putting a groundhog in her bun, earthbending a Kyoshi Warrior into the punch bowl, giving Zuko advice…what all happened? It was like there were bits and pieces from her memory that were completely missing. She didn't even remember getting into bed.

She swung her legs over the bed and allowed her feet to touch the floor. She sensed that her blankets were a mess, and she could smell the barf in her nightstand and on her comforter. She wondered why her comb was all the way across the room.

She reached her arm out and commanded the metal of her chain to come to her. As the cool metal met her skin and wrapped around her wrist she gasped.

 _Did I try to kiss Sokka?!_

It came rushing back to her…she was looking for him and she ended up discovering him where she least expected: her bedroom. They talked for a little while, then she leaned in to kiss him before vomiting all over the warrior.

She groaned and smacked her forehead, only to groan again at the pounding of her headache.

"This birthday has been a mess."

* * *

Sokka awoke to a shrill scream, and his body immediately tried to shield both his ears from the sound and his eyes from the sunlight, resulting in a strange motion where he ended up smacking his right eye and punching his left temple. He whimpered to himself, then gathered the courage to peek open one eye to see who was screaming and why.

" _Where_ are my pants?!"

It was one of Toph's first metalbending students, The Dark One. He was a weird guy who liked all things gloomy.

"Oh, today has started out to be as ill-fated as I appear to be…I can feel the cold embrace of shame already encircling my body," he said, swooning backwards and landing with a _fwump_ onto the bed Sokka was in.

"That's not the cold embrace of shame, Dark One, that's just a draft," Smellerbee said, rolling her eyes.

The Dark One looked up and shrieked when he saw the female fighter observing him from under her pillow, her eye make-up smeared around her face.

"I think Haru is wearing your pants as a scarf," someone suggested. Sokka glimpsed over and whined out loud when he saw it was Sheng.

The Dark One jumped up and stomped over to the sleeping earthbender, yanking on the pants around his neck. "Give- me- those!" he got out as he tugged.

Haru woke up suddenly, sputtering and choking as The Dark One tried to remove the pants from around his neck.

"Anybody need any water or- oh for the love of Tui!"

Sokka's sister came barging in, smacking The Dark One's hands to stop him from choking the life out of Haru.

"This foul mustachioed man is wearing my most essential piece of clothing and I refuse to succumb to the cold embrace of shame!" The Dark One exclaimed.

Katara, once finished unwinding the pair of pants from around Haru's red neck, quirked an eyebrow at Toph's student.

"You were so desperate for these-" she thrust his pants forward, "that you were going to strangle Haru?!"

"I…well," The Dark One looked around, and, realizing everyone in the room was now awake and staring at his pants-less self, he quickly grabbed the pants from Katara's hands. Then he ran off into the adjoining bathroom, presumably to put on his pants and think about death.

"Okay, now that you're done trying to kill each other," Katara said, looking around at the group of boys in the Beifongs' guest room. "I'll let you know that there's water and breakfast in the kitchen."

Most of the guys (and Smellerbee) cheered and got up to follow the master waterbender, starving after a night of drinking and partying. Sokka said something incoherent into his pillow and tried to pull the blanket up over his head, only to discover that there was too much weight on the foot of the bed, pinning his blanket down. He tugged and tugged and tugged, until finally, in his frustration, he sat up to see what was making his life so difficult.

"Sup," Sheng said, sitting on the foot of the bed and smiling at Sokka.

"I just wanna sleep," Sokka whined, throwing himself backwards and wincing when he went too far and smacked his aching head on the headboard.

"You can sleep the rest of the day if you want," Sheng said, rolling his eyes. "I just need to ask you something."

"Go for it," Sokka said, staring at the ceiling and rubbing the back of his injured head.

"What were you doing in Toph's room last night?"

* * *

Toph finally managed to stumble out of bed and into the bathroom. She felt dizzy for a few moments, but luckily there was no more barfing.

"I'm never drinking again," she promised herself as she dunked her head into the basin and pouring water over her hair. She was a sweaty, stinky mess. Normally she didn't care about being sweaty or dirty, but she was not liking the smell of stale vomit that seemed to follow her.

She splashed her face with water and shook her entire head out over the basin, sending water droplets flying in every direction. She tried to blow her bangs out of her face, but they were too heavy while they were soaked with water. She gave up and threw on some new clothes.

She walked out of her room, sensing a small crowd of her friends down in the kitchen and dining areas. She focused and could sense her boyfriend and the warrior she wanted to avoid in a guest room a couple rooms down from her. She mentally groaned. Why were they together?

Instead of finding out, Toph decided to slip out of the house before anyone could notice. She had business to attend to.

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked the young metalbender. He gave up on the idea of sleep and sat up on the bed, observing his best friend's boyfriend a foot away from him.

"Don't play dumb," Sheng said, rolling his eyes at Sokka. "Toph taught me how to use seismic earthbending."

"And?"

"And I sensed you too in her room last night! In her bed!" Sheng replied, his irritation with Sokka evident in his voice.

Sokka didn't notice his tone, and scrunched his face up trying to concentrate. "What? In her bed?"

"Yes!" he said impatiently.

Sokka furrowed his eyebrows and starting rubbing his chin, trying to remember last night. The more he tried to focus on it, however, the more it slipped away. It was like trying to grasp water in his hands…the memories had already trickled away.

"I don't know what to tell you, buddy," Sokka said with a shrug. "Last thing I remember is partying with The Duke…I think I lost a drinking contest to him. I don't remember seeing Toph _or_ ending up in her bed." He took a moment to soak in his surroundings, and he looked down at himself. "And I don't remember changing into my jammie jams either…"

He froze and made eye contact with Sheng. "Who changed me?!" he squeaked dramatically at him.

Sheng rolled his eyes again, and stood up from the bed. "I can't tell if you're playing dumb, or if you're actually just dumb." He strolled away after that.

Sokka frowned. He was finally alone, and he tried to focus on a timeline of what had happened last night. No matter how hard he tried, he could not recall anything after drinking with The Duke. Was he really in Toph's bed? He was sure he didn't do anything regrettable with her…she was his best friend, after all, and he was sure he'd remember if something romantic had happened between them.

He let out a small sigh and decided he could use some of this rumored breakfast.


	11. Chapter 11

Wow, it's been a while since I updated! Sorry about that. School's been killer this semester. Here's a new chapter, thanks everyone!

* * *

Toph pushed open the door to the police station, wincing when it made a loud clamber as it smacked into the wall. Her head was not feeling much better.

She approached the desk, sensing how nervous the man working there was.

"I'm here to see the Bossy Law-Man," she announced to him.

Yu nodded, quickly shoving his chair back to stand up, causing the legs to screech against the floor as he hurried off to find the lieutenant. Toph tried to ignore the pounding in her temples and started tapping her foot on the floor while she waited.

Yu returned after a moment, and gestured for Toph to follow behind him. He left her at the lieutenant's door, and Hano called out, "Enter."

She walked through the door and sat down at the chair across from the lieutenant. She was tempted to put her feet up on the desk, but decided between not having her money yet and still feeling whoozy that it probably wasn't in her best interest to do so.

Lieutenant Hano didn't say anything for a few moments; Toph felt that he was staring at her.

"Is there a singing groundhog in my hair or what?" she finally asked him with a huff.

"You look like a mess," he responded, taking another moment to watch her. Her hair was damp and definitely out of place of its normal bun, and her eyes were slightly bloodshot.

"Gee, thanks," she said, rolling her eyes at him. "You're so observant. You a detective now?"

He chuckled, then reached into a drawer at his desk. "Not quite." He pulled out a large bag, and set it down on the desk. It jingled as he moved it and Toph couldn't wait to get her hands on it. "So, did you do some celebrating last night?"

She shifted her focus from the bag of yuans to the lieutenant. "Yeah. Why?"

He shrugged at her, then, unsure if she could see him, said, "Just wondering. You look a bit worse for wear. You get into any more trouble?"

Toph had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes again. "No, sheesh! I was the perfect little birthday girl, okay?"

It was Hano's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like the girl who took out six of the city's most wanted criminals for kicks. The most well-behaved drunk you'll ever see."

"Look, no one died, okay," then Toph paused, resting her hand on her chin. "Or at least not that I'm aware of."

The lieutenant groaned at the thought of cleaning up anymore of the blind bender's mess, causing Toph to chuckle lightly.

"I mean, if you want, I'm sure I could find some trouble for you," she offered playfully.

"I'm not sure if I want to take you up on that offer," he answered, finally pushing the bag of money towards her. "Here's your payment. Remember, you need to-"

"Split it with the sidekick, I know, I know," she finished for him, grabbing the bag and feeling the coins tinkling against each other.

Hano smiled at her, and was glad that she remembered not to take all of the reward for herself. She was a troublemaker, no doubt, but she was a good kid. Or adult. Whatever.

"Alright, Bossy Law-Man, am I free to go?"

He smiled at his nickname before standing up and gesturing to the door. "You are free to go, Miss Beifong."

"Please," she said, sticking the bag in her pocket and giving him a dismissive wave. "It's Toph, Bossy."

"Stay out of trouble, Toph," the lieutenant called as she strolled out of his office. He smiled to himself. If only there were more people on the force like her…then he grimaced. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. He really wasn't quite sure what to make of the young metalbender.

* * *

"Hey, Sokka…can we talk?"

Sokka paused from devouring his morning meal to glance up at his girlfriend. He smiled at her, and his stomach did a little nervous flip. He nodded, slurping up his last bite.

They meandered out to the back patio area of the Beifong estate. Sokka sighed as he felt the warm breeze play with his wolf's tail. It was a beautiful day. He turned to face Suki, and saw she was tugging on her hair again. It looked like she was working up the courage to say something. They stood quietly for a few moments.

"What's going on, Suki?" he finally asked her with a frown.

She met his eye and he could see she was holding back tears. "I don't know what to do…" she started.

"Sokka…I love you. There's no question about that," she said with a small smile. He wanted to smile back, but his heart was pounding and he suddenly felt nauseous. What was all this about?

"But lately I've been…confused," she said, turning away from him slightly.

"Confused?" he asked, worry on his face. "About what?"

"About everything!" she said with irritation. She took a deep breath before continuing. "It's just, I don't know…I'm confused about a lot of things. What am I doing? Where am I going? The war is over but I'm still unsure of what my purpose is…and…I'm confused about us too," she admitted.

Sokka reached out and softly grabbed her hand, running his fingers over her knuckles. "What about us?"

"I…I don't know." She looked off into the distance, once again not meeting his eye.

"You can tell me anything, Suki, you know that," Sokka encouraged her.

"I know I love you, but I'm afraid I might be falling for someone else," she said, hanging her head down in shame. "I just don't know, I'm really lost…" A couple tears dropped down from her face as she pulled away from his hand.

Sokka felt sick. Curiosity and slight jealousy prompted his next question. "Who is it?"

Suki shook her head, sniffling. "I can't tell you."

"Suki," he said, stepping in front of her and pushing her chin up so she would meet his eye. "Do you want to be with me?"

She stared into his eyes for a moment before nodding and saying, "yes," with certainty.

"Then we can get through this," he said, giving her a small smile. "I love you, and I trust you."

Suki immediately rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Sokka, burying her face in his chest and crying softly. He could hear her muffled voice saying, "I'm sorry," into his shirt. He smiled and combed his fingers through her hair, pushing her head up slightly so he could give her forehead a gentle kiss.

"It's okay."

* * *

Poppy hummed lightly to herself as she helped her servant, Ming, begin cleaning up the estate after Toph's party. Since she and Lao had divorced, she had started living a bit more differently. She made a few changes to her lifestyle here and there, slowly easing her way out of her old life and into a new one. Her heart was broken when she thought she had lost Toph due to Lao's traditional views, and now that her daughter was back in her life, she would do anything to keep her there.

"Tut tut," Ming muttered quietly, facing the window. "We're going to need some earthbenders to fix up the yard…"

Poppy smiled to herself; usually, servants and masters have a strict "speak when spoken to" relationship, and they would never group themselves and their master as "we". She was glad that she had such a loyal and dutiful friend by her side after all of her troubles.

"Lucky for us, I know a few," she said with a chuckle.

They spent some time picking up cups and misplaced trash from around the house, Katara joining them briefly to wash the dishes (she was much faster at it, after all). Poppy was just readjusting some portraits on a table when her daughter entered the room.

"There's my birthday girl!" she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "How is my little grown up feeling?"

Toph groaned and flopped herself down onto a loveseat. "It feels like my head might explode."

Poppy chuckled lightly and shook her head. "Someday you'll learn what your limit is, dear…" she trailed off.

"But not likely any time soon," Ming said quietly.

Poppy stifled a laugh as Toph groaned again.

"Thanks, Ming Ming," she said as she pushed a throw pillow into her face to block out the light. Ming smiled at Toph's nickname for her.

"Now, honey," Poppy started as she lightly lifted up Toph's legs to sit herself down on the loveseat with her. "You and I need to have a little chat." She put Toph's legs back in place over her lap, and the two sat there for a moment while Toph remained hidden under the pillow.

"About what?" she finally asked in a muffled voice.

"Well, I promised your friend Sokka that I would ask about it…" Toph let out an inaudible sound. "What are your plans for the future?"

Toph tossed the pillow off of her head and sat up a bit. "The future?"

"Yes, dear, the future," Poppy quickly replied. "I know you have your school, but what else? What are you planning?"

Toph shrugged. "I was just gonna go with the flow for a while…"

"That doesn't sound like the world's greatest earthbender to me," Ming chimed in from across the room.

Toph grimaced a bit as Poppy laughed gently. "She's right, dear."

"What did Sokka have to do with this, anyway?" Toph asked.

"Well, he wanted me to ask you how you felt about Republic City."


	12. Chapter 12

Toph let out a low whistle, stopping mid-stride and allowing her feet to give her a better view of what lay before her.

"Wow…I've gotta hand it to you, Sokka, this seems like the real deal," she told her companion after absorbing what she could see of the city.

Sokka grinned. "It took a lot of planning and a lot of help, but it's really coming together!" he said proudly.

They had just gotten off of an ostrich horse that Sokka had rented, and Toph could finally see the city her friends could never stop talking about. They were standing in the heart of downtown Republic City, and Toph could already tell that this city was unlike any she had been in before. The varying shops and businesses that stood before her were multilevel, although many of them appeared to be under construction to build second, third, and even some fourth levels. Even in Ba Sing Se, the multiple level buildings were exclusively held for the residents and businesses of the Upper Ring, and more often than not, the more palatial buildings appeared to be giant stone boxes with layers and levels within them. Here, in Republic City, the buildings appeared to be nestled together, each one a different size, shape, and layout depending on the wishes of their owners. Toph could even sense the difference in architecture between some of these buildings: one of the shops closest to her she could sense immediately had an Earth Kingdom feel to it with its design, while immediately next to it a Fire Nation type business, with raised edges on the outer rim of its railings, resembling flames.

"So people from different nations can all just get along here, huh?" she asked her guide after observing the new architecture.

"Well, yeah, that's the idea of the United Republic, right?" he stood next to her, hands on his hips as he, too, observed the variety of the buildings before him. "Anyone can come here and make a life for themselves, and instead of being an outcast, they're accepted like anyone else…This city _was_ a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom, after all, so there's been mixing and blending going on here for decades."

Toph let out a skeptical snort and turned to face her companion. "So why do I need to be here, exactly?"

Sokka dropped his arms and let out a heavy sigh, his demeanor changing rapidly. "Well, just like any other major city, there are some…issues…" he began.

"Issues, huh?"

Sokka nodded. "In particular, we're having problems with crime. As in, really bad problems with crime. I don't wanna discuss the details here, but let's just say if word gets out Republic City may not last very long."

* * *

"Good afternoon and greetings, everyone!"

Toph tried to contain her laugher at Sokka's sudden "business-like" charm.

"I've finally been able to bring along with me my esteemed associate, the creator of metalbending and the founder of the Beifong Metalbending Academy, the one and only, Toph Beifong!" Sokka ended his glowing introduction with a flourish, bowing and giving Toph a gentle push in the center of her back to get her moving forward. She rolled her eyes but didn't complain about the short applause she received.

She was standing before the committee that Aang, Sokka, and Zuko had come up with when they decided they would need counseling when it comes to governing the city. At least that was how Sokka explained it. To Toph, it seemed like a hodgepodge of people with nothing in common except that they were all sitting at the same table, presumably staring at her.

Sokka introduced them to her one by one: "We have Lieutenant Jee, he served Zuko back when he was still a banished prince with an anger problem-" Jee nodded in Toph's direction "-then we have General Shi, he served Earth King Kuei on his Council of Five before Azula took them ou- er, sorry-" Sokka cut himself off after noticing Shi's pointed glare "-next up is Bato of the Southern Water Tribe, you should remember him from the Day of Black Sun-" Bato smiled and gave a quick wave "-and finally we have Kata, a representative from the Foggy Swamp Tribe. She also fought with us on the Day of Black Sun," Kata smiled at Toph, although she couldn't tell.

Sokka brought a pair of chairs over to the table and gestured for Toph to have a seat. The table was rounded, and she sat directly across from General Shi, with Sokka at her left and Kata at her right.

"Now," Sokka began, clearing his throat. "The reason why I've sought out counsel from Toph is due to our recent spike in severe crime." He pulled out a few paper reports from his bag ( _is that the bag that matches his belt?_ Toph asked herself), and placed them on the table for his fellow committee members to survey at their leisure.

"All cities have problems with crime," General Shi stated. The tone of his voice told Toph that he thought this meeting was a waste of time already.

"True," said Sokka, "but we're dealing with more than petty theft and muggings. If you look at this report from the Guard-" he pulled out a small stack of papers from the center of the table "you'll see that within the past month we have had a huge increase in sexual assaults and murder. Many of the murders seem random, and the Guard is having a difficult time finding evidence that will trace the crimes back to the perpetrators."

"Perhaps we need to increase the number of the City Guard?" Bato suggested.

"I'm not quite sure that would get to the root of the problem," Sokka explained, a frown on his face. "If we increase the guard, we'll have more men on the streets, sure, but I'm not sure that will help much. The people committing these crimes are leaving next to no evidence- we don't know if they're assassins for hire, benders, non-benders, psychopaths killing for fun…we have no clue what we're dealing with here. All we have are dead bodies turning up with different causes of death. I honestly don't think the team we have on the Guard right now is equipped to handle the people behind this."

The table grew quiet as everyone tried to think of an answer to their current problem.

"Where I'm from," Kata started, with a bit of the country twang in her voice, "we don't have many problems with crime. Everybody gets along as a big family. Why aren't cities like that?" She looked around the table and saw the skeptical looks her peers were exchanging.

"What I'm tryin' to say," she continued, "Is that when people feel like they're involved, like they're a part of the bigger picture and that their voice matters, they might not be so inclined to be out committin' these crimes."

Lieutenant Jee nodded, agreeing. "She has a point. I'm not sure if the people committing these crimes are just being opportunistic and pouncing on a young city who is still figuring out the rules, but if people feel like they're a part of the community, they aren't likely to want to hurt it. They'll want to see the city grow and prosper."

"While I'm not sure that this will address the people who are out there murdering people right now," Shi said gruffly, "That's not a bad suggestion to keep the situation from getting worse. In the Ba Sing Se, in the Upper Ring people had no issues with crime because they felt they were valued-"

"That and you literally walled off the poor and hungry who you _didn't_ value, so there was only an issue with crime in the Lower Ring. Imagine that," Toph interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She drummed her fingers on the table as Sokka slapped his hand across his face.

"Toph-" Sokka groaned.

"What? I'm not wrong," She said with a disinterested shrug.

"Listen here, little miss," General Shi cut in. "You shouldn't go spouting off nonsense when you have no idea what was going on-"

"Oh ho, really?" Toph let out a belly laugh. "That's rich! You realize I'm a Beifong, right? I've known how the upper classes treat the lower ones in the Earth Kingdom since the day I was born. Ba Sing Se is only different from the rest of the Earth Kingdom in that they concealed their problems with the poor by building walls to keep them out!"

General Shi let out a low growl. "It kept our city safe; I wouldn't be opposed to other cities following Ba Sing Se's suit."

"Right, because that worked out _so_ well for all of its citizens who had no clue there was a war going on for a hundred years," Toph retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Shi stood up and was prepared to continue defending his beloved city when Sokka stood up and put his hands out to silence the two parties.

"Arguing will get us nowhere," he calmly stated, eyeing Shi and Toph, hoping they would calm down.

Shi sat down with a huff, crossing his arms in irritation. "What does she know about any of this, anyway? What has she done to protect this city?"

"Well, I certainly helped Yu Dao out by capturing some of their most wanted criminals, didn't I?" Toph smiled. "I probably have more battlefield experience than you, _General_."

Sokka let a strangled noise escape his throat while the table fell into a short-lived chaos. The committee, which had begun shouting their opinions at each other, was interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

A fire nation solider cracked open the door and peeked his head inside the meeting room, staring curiously at the group of people, who had suddenly frozen in place.

"Can we help you?" Sokka asked, his voice nearly cracking.

"Sorry," the solider said, his face growing lightly flushed. "I'm here to announce the Fire Lord's arrival."


End file.
